The Ministry of Works built Twizel in 1968 to house hydro workers, and the people who stayed on saved it from demolition. Skiers drive about 50 km to the Ohau chairlift, the last 9.6 km on gravel, while summer riders follow the hydro canals 38 km to Lake Ohau.
Staying in Twizel, where do you pick up skis for Ohau?
At the field. Twizel has no ski shop, so you get fitted in Ohau's base building at the top of the 9.6 km gravel road, where an adult day set of skis or a snowboard, boots and poles was $80 in 2026. If you're driving down from Christchurch, the Ski Shack in Fairlie is the Mackenzie's only ski shop in a town. Carry chains whatever you drive; Lake Ohau Lodge hires them for $30.
Where can you hire a bike for the Alps 2 Ocean in Twizel?
At two depots in town. Cycle Journeys on Wairepo Road charges $69 for a day on a Merida Crossway and $139 for an e-bike, with kids' bikes and trailers too. Cycle Ventures on Rata Road hires from $85 a day, or $140 for an e-bike, between 9am and 5:30pm. Both run trail shuttles, and Trail Journeys works from Omarama.
The rental counter is on the snow
Ohau keeps 220 sets of mostly Salomon skis and boots and 40 Burton snowboards at the field, so there's nothing to collect in Twizel the night before. Coming from Christchurch, you can hire at the Ski Shack in Fairlie; from the Queenstown side, hire in Wanaka before you cross the Lindis Pass.
| Shop | Adult set, all day | Adult set, from 12:30pm | Hires | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ohau Snow Fields rental
Base facilities, 1,500 m
|
$80 | $63 | Salomon skis and boots, Burton boards, jackets, pants, helmets and wrist guards | At the field on the day |
| Shop | Adult set, all day | Adult set, from 12:30pm | Hires | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ski Shack
Top of the main street, Fairlie
|
Ask in store | Ski and snowboard sets, clothing hire, tuning and repairs | Phone 03 685 8088 | |
NZD, from Ohau's rate card for 27 June to 4 October 2026; the 2027 card isn't out. A youth or child set was $55 a day or $220 for the week, and a jacket and pants together $55. Ski Shack rates aren't online, so ask for them when you ring.
Twizel sits partway down the 315 km Alps 2 Ocean, which runs from Aoraki/Mount Cook to Oamaru. Riders come in from Braemar Station, 43 km away, and leave along the canals for Lake Ohau. Three bike hire firms within 30 km work the trail.
Cycle Journeys adds $16 a bike to return it to the depot. Both Twizel depots include a helmet.
From the depot at 2A Wairepo Road, Merida Crossway bikes from $63 to $69 a day depending on how many days, e-bikes $129 to $139, and full-suspension e-bikes $165 to $185. Tandems, gravel bikes, kids' bikes at $46 and child trailers too, and a kids' e-bike from mid-December 2026. Helmet, rear bag and bottle cage included.
Hire rates →The depot at 63 Rata Road hires mountain bikes from $85 a day and e-bikes from $140 on its 2025-26 rates, with a helmet, carrier and trunk bag, spare tube, multitool and pump. Panniers are $10 to $15 a day. Also drop-offs, pickups and small-group trail tours.
Book a bike →Supported self-guided Alps 2 Ocean trips from a base at 16 Chain Hills Highway, with bike hire, luggage transfers and shuttles such as the 4:30pm run from Otematata back to Omarama.
Their website →Drops riders and bikes off and collects them anywhere from Mt Cook to Oamaru, including Ohau and Omarama.
Their website →Omarama is 30 km south of Twizel by road.
Made between 1977 and 1981 for the hydro scheme and 4.5 km long, with an eight-lane rowing course. Families swim in the shallow lagoon.
About the lake →Brown and rainbow trout and small landlocked sockeye salmon, with the lodge and its walking tracks by the water.
Lodge activities →Gliding from Omarama: an introduction flight for $1,100, a one-day course for $1,325, and three- and five-day courses at $4,000 and $6,700.
Their website →Private cedar tubs for up to eight people and a sauna on Omarama Avenue, 40 km of trail on from Lake Ohau.
Their website →Before you leave town
Twizel has the Mobil, the Four Square and a square full of places to eat, but it's 42 km from the lodge. Lake Ohau Lodge sits 9.6 km below the lifts, and that's where the ski bus leaves from and lift passes cost less.
A small village beside a lake 520 m above sea level, and a 72-room lodge the Neilson family has run since the mid-1980s. The fire of 4 October 2020 burned 48 houses here. In winter the lodge is the base for the ski field, and in summer Alps 2 Ocean riders stop the night between the canal ride from Twizel and the climb to Omarama.
Through the village on the Alps 2 Ocean
By car the lodge is 30 minutes from Twizel or Omarama.
Twizel is on SH8, about two and a half hours from both Christchurch and Queenstown. Lake Tekapo is 60 km north and Omarama 30 km south.
At the height of the hydro work Twizel had close to 6,000 people, and the plan was to pull it down afterward. Residents fought that, and in 1984 the council took on 540 houses and 14 shops.
About 290 km, inland through Fairlie and Lake Tekapo. From Tekapo it's roughly 45 minutes on to Twizel, and the Ski Shack in Fairlie is the place to hire on the way.
Over the Lindis Pass and down 32 km to Omarama, then 20 minutes north to Twizel. Skiers bound for Ohau turn off at the big Ohau sign before reaching town.
Before a ski day, read the snow report. It carries the access road status and the day's chain rule. Ohau snow report →
Aoraki/Mount Cook Village, where the Alps 2 Ocean starts, is about 45 minutes' drive.
Christchurch and Queenstown are the nearest international airports. Pukaki Airport, about 3 km north of town on SH8, handles charters, skydives and scenic and helicopter flights.
Twizel Transfers moves riders and bikes between Mt Cook, Tekapo, Twizel, Ohau, Omarama, Otematata, Kurow and Oamaru, and drives private transfers to Queenstown, Wanaka, Christchurch and Dunedin.
One double chair, a platter and what Ohau calls the longest snow mat in New Zealand, on 125 ha of terrain below Mt Sutton (2,000 m). The lifts climb from 1,425 m to 1,825 m. The 2026 season closed on 4 October, and Ohau hasn't published its 2027 dates.
The snow mat replaced a rope tow in 2005 and moves 1,100 people an hour. Both learner slopes have snowmaking, a beginner lift pass was $66 in 2026, and the Never Ever package bundled beginner lifts, hire and a lesson for $145.
About half the field. Snowmaking covers the two main top-to-bottom runs, which go by way of Top Flat, Boulevard, the Towers and Shirt Front, and the chair (installed in 2004) carries 795 an hour.
Ohau rates 30% of its terrain advanced. It counts 125 ha from the top of the chair and 600 ha from the summit of Mt Sutton, a climb above the lifts.
A beginner park and an intermediate-to-advanced park, both cut with a PB400W winch cat. Uphill skinning is allowed in operating hours on The Boulevard only, off to the side of the groomed trail.
Group lessons last an hour and start every half hour from 9:30, at $83 for an adult and $64 for a youth or child; a private hour is $165. None can be booked ahead, so be at the Ticket Office at 9am. Mountain Goats kids register for $55 and pay $30 a lesson.
A log burner, big tables, a cafeteria with espresso and a souvenir shop. Lifts run 9am to 4pm when the weather allows, and there's no night skiing.
A long snow mat, snowmaking on both learner slopes and a $145 first-day bundle.
Half the terrain, but one chair and 400 m of vertical.
30% advanced terrain, and 600 ha if you climb to the top of Mt Sutton.
Youth day passes were $59, the Mountain Goats program takes kids, and group lessons go half price in the school holidays.
$149 for an adult day, $112 with a lodge stay, and $580 for any 5 days in 7.
Scored 1 to 5 for skiers driving up from Twizel or staying at the lodge.
Four guides fish the hydro canals for trout out of Twizel, two stargazing outfits set up telescopes near town, and Pukaki Airport, 3 km up SH8, flies skydivers and biplanes.
Guided days on the canals for trophy trout, backcountry fly fishing, and learn-to-fly-fish sessions. Pickup from your Twizel accommodation is included.
Their website →Canal fishing lessons and guided days from 28 Glenbrook Crescent, with rods, reels and tackle supplied.
Their website →Alan Campbell has fished for over 40 years and guided for more than 30, mostly sight fishing for browns and rainbows. Call ahead to book.
Their website →Anton Donaldson guides fly fishing around Twizel and Tekapo, with a boat for the lake shallows and heli-fishing trips.
Their website →A salmon farm 3 km south on SH8 where you reel in your own with gear supplied, then eat at Logans, the floating cafe, or buy from the fish shop.
Their website →The Cosmos Explorer tour with a qualified astronomer, near Twizel, plus private and backyard sessions and tours in Japanese.
Their website →Family stargazing through telescopes, with a free photo, $99 for a child. Check in on Waitaki Place, off South Road. Tours also run in Chinese.
Their website →Tandem skydives from 9,000, 13,000 or 15,000 ft, out of Pukaki Airport.
Their website →Open-cockpit flights in a Grumman Ag-Cat biplane, and Cessna flights over the Glenmary and Tasman glaciers. Full time from September to the end of April; in winter, call ahead.
Their website →Scenic flights of 20 to 60 minutes with snow landings, and the Tasman Glacier heli hike, from a base 4 km north of Twizel that opens seasonally.
Their website →Guided hunts for free-range tahr and deer, run from Twizel.
Their website →Most of it faces the lawn on Market Place. A row of food trucks parks on Mackenzie Drive by the Medical Centre, and the longer dinners are out of town at the salmon farm, Lake Pukaki or the lodge.
Its name comes from the government department that built Twizel. Open seven days at 2 Market Place, from 2pm on weekdays and noon at weekends.
Brunch, dinners and live music at number 4.
Pies at number 5, 7am to 5pm.
Thai food at 1B Market Place.
Morning coffee, Tuesday to Friday, 7am to 1pm.
Chinese-Malaysian dinners from the truck, Wednesday to Sunday, 4:30 to 8pm.
Sushi from one truck and bacon sandwiches from another, parked in the same row as Seashelles Coffee.
Gastropub and sports bar at 13 Tasman Road, run by the Burgess family since 2013, when it was still the Top Hut.
At 28 Tasman Road, home of what it calls Mike's famous smoked salmon.
Cafe from 8am to 2pm and dinner from 5pm, Wednesday to Sunday, at 1 Ohau Road.
Cafe and gift shop on Ruataniwha Road, Tuesday to Sunday, 8am to 3pm, with an 18-hole mini golf course at $10 an adult.
Cafe and restaurant at 1 Benmore Place.
A floating cafe on the salmon farm 3 km south on SH8, open 9am to 8pm every day.
The restaurant at Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat on Lake Pukaki, whose observatory tours start in the candlelit wine cellar.
The salmon shop at the Pukaki Information Centre on SH8.
The only restaurant at the lake, 42 km from town, with a set menu at night.
Hours are from each venue's own listing. The Mackenzie Drive trucks keep fewer days than the bars on the square, so check before you walk over.
Notes from the basin
Fishing licenses, spare bike parts, the last fuel north and the dam detour past Omarama.
Ski & Snowboard
Bikes
E-Bikes & Scooters
Lessons & Instruction
Multi-Day Adventures
Guided Tours
Group Activities
Rentals
Experiences & tours
Rentals
Experiences & tours
Rentals
Experiences & tours
Rentals
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Destinations in the same region and country, then others known for the same rentals and activities.
FAQ
Answers checked October 2026. Prices and rules change each season, so confirm with the operator before you go.
Contact UsYes, at the same counter as the skis. In 2026 a jacket and pants together were $55 a day, or $35 for one of them, and a helmet or wrist guards $18. Jacket, pants and helmet as a set were $66, or $264 for the week.
Photos: Ulrich Lange (CC BY-SA 4.0), Krzysztof Golik (CC BY-SA 4.0), Pseudopanax (Public domain), Michael Button (CC BY 2.0), wanghongliu (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Check your listing in this guide and send us your 2027 prices. To run bookings, gear and customers in one place, start a free 21-day trial.
Software for Twizel operators: Ski & Snowboard · Bikes · Activities & Adventure · Tours
